1 When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion.”
3 At that time the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the courtyard of the high priest named Caiaphas; 4 and they plotted together to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him. 5 But they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise a riot might occur among the people.”
6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume, and she poured it on His head as He was reclining at the table. 8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste? 9 For this perfume could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you bothering the woman? For she has done a good deed for Me. 11 For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. 12 For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. 13 Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”
14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from then on he looked for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.
TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:
At this very moment, the disciples seemed caught up in a relationship with money. Some of them might have expected that for the rest of their lives, they would be "missionaries", at the mercy of other people's generosity. It is always possible that one forgets to keep our trust in the Lord, when we start focusing on the works and efforts of ourselves and others. In those situations, even a well-seasoned missionary can become worried and fearful about not receiving their full support. And in that, one can become hyper-vigilant about not squandering or being in any way generous to others.
For some of the other disciples, they might have hoped that this career path with Jesus would progress towards promotions and prestigious incomes (much like the Pharisees enjoyed). But so that others didn't see them as selfish or worried, they inserted "the plight of the poor" to justify their self-centered, indignant feelings.
While the disciples, in their preoccupation with money, seemed to have forgotten about all the times Jesus told them that He would soon be crucified, this woman apparently had heard Jesus' words and took Him seriously. While it was customary to anoint the heads of important guests, not only was Jesus right there as a guest, her precious Lord God and Savior was about to suffer a horrible death. So, she saw Him as more than worthy to be anointed with this very costly perfume.
This perfume would have been worth an entire year's salary, while the money Judas Iscariot received for betraying Jesus was only one to two months' worth. Think about it... in life, there will always be sacrifices that we will have to make, no matter what we put in first place. If one loves themselves and money, and puts personal happiness and the pursuit of wealth in first place, then one will sacrifice all other relationships, and often their own health. And if we put relationships with people first, then there will be all sorts of sacrifices, including money, time, energy, emotions, and even our own spiritual well-being.
Life has an interesting relationship dynamic between people and money. Understand that having money is not wrong, it is the LOVE of money that is wrong. We need money in order to survive, support our loved ones, and help the needy. And we need people in our lives who love us and care for us. Also understand that we are to love others, but, in order to love others the way we should, and in order to keep all of these things in proper perspective, we need the Lord in our lives, as our number one relationship!
The Lord God both loves and cares for us, as well as sustains and provides for us. After all, Jesus sacrificed His own life for us, to pay for our sins! Jesus did not die so that we could be married. Nor did He die that we could be rich. He died so that we could be freed from sin, and enjoy a personal relationship with Him for all eternity! Therefore, in our worship, and from our thankfulness, we will want to give of ourselves (our income, resources, time and energy) to serve our Lord God, because He alone is worthy!
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